The Elder Scrolls Online studio Zenimax Online hit with layoffs

Just five months after The Elder Scrolls Online MMO went live, developer ZeniMax Online Studios has laid off an unspecified number of employees.

The layoffs at ZeniMax Online were confirmed by Pete Hines, vice president of PR and marketing at publisher Bethesda Softworks. "As is the norm for games of this type, we had ramped up a large workforce to develop a game of vast scale, and ramped up our customer service to handle the expected questions and community needs of The Elder Scrolls Online at launch," he said in a statement sent to Joystiq . "Now that we are nearly 6 months post launch, we have a thriving online community in a game that runs smoothly."

"We remain strongly committed to The Elder Scrolls Online, and continue to invest heavily to develop new content for PC players, prepare the game for its console launch, and handle our planned expansion into important international territories," he said.